Two Highgod, three Midgod, and two Lowgod.
Of the five elders of the Rhine Clan, Jason and Angela had already broken through to the next level, Hernan broke through to the Midgod in recent years, and the remaining two, Vargas and Matisse, Peak Lowgod.
Of the five elders, apart from Jason, the other four did not offer much help to the two Highgod who Refine Divine Spark. Delisha arranged for the five of them to come out and gain experience in order to break through.
We arrived at the fork in the road again. The group of Iron-Armored Saw Crocodile had long since been moved to another area.
"Let's not separate," Jason suggested first.
Having watched many horror movies in his past life, Jason knew that the protagonists' actions, such as splitting up to search for survivors, were always disastrous. Jason didn't want to make that kind of foolish mistake.
The others didn't seem to want to separate either, and weren't in a hurry, taking their time.
"Good luck, those ' Dragon-Scaled Loach ' should be just ahead."
After walking more than a kilometer along a side road, just as the road was beginning to narrow and the group was about to give up, Anya and Kasabu spotted the "Dragon-Scaled Loach" that the Iron-Armored Saw Crocodile had mentioned earlier.
There were still no Deity-level beings present, and the group easily rounded up the thirty-odd Dragon-Scaled Loach loaches.
According to Dragon-Scaled Loach's confession, this cave was actually formed by the erosion of an underground river after it changed course, and it is less than 10,000 years old. Even in the Material Plane, a cave of this age is considered young.
The Dragon-Scaled Loach migrated to this cave when it was first eroded out, back when it was still quite narrow.
As for the "White-Scaled Short-Tailed Fish" and the Iron-Armored Saw Crocodile, they migrated from the Gray Serpent River later.
Its abundance of natural resources stands out in contrast to the surrounding barrenness.
Compared to the infamous Gray Serpent River in the Netherworld, it is far inferior. The Gray Serpent River at the end of the underground river is home to many tribes of aquatic creatures, and its resources are much richer than those here.
How do you know so much?
The leader of the Dragon-Scaled Loach said, "One of our Deity-level ancestors returned before. He said that his Midgod avatar was destroyed in the battle, so he came back to avoid the storm and told us some things about the Gray Serpent River."
"What about that Deity-level?"
"A very powerful Deity-level came before us; they killed our ancestors, and we migrated to the end of this cave."
"When?"
About twenty years ago.
The group exchanged bewildered glances, guessing it was the same group of bandits from before.
The Dragon-Scaled Loach is a sub-dragon species with a dark attribute and a talent level of only nine. It has nothing remarkable about it, and even its meat is not tasty. Jason and the others let it go without a second thought.
After checking each of the three forks in the road, they found nothing except a patch of Black Yu ore and some scattered creatures.
A cave that's only ten thousand years old is far too short a time for Deity-level to have been born; not many people have noticed it yet. Many Highgod spend ten thousand years in seclusion at a time.
It was more than ten days later when the group returned to the Rhine Clan's residence.
The original entrance to the cave leading to the mountainside was blocked, Rhine Clan opened up another passage leading to a more secluded place at the foot of the mountain.
It is said that they planned to build a castle at the foot of the mountain once their family was powerful enough, since many human members of the family disliked the dark and damp environment of underground caves.
Inside the cave, several large underground spaces have been carved out, consisting of several artificial caverns.
The surrounding magic crystal mines were put to use; fire and light magic crystals were embedded in the side walls to keep the cave dry and bright.
Although the vast majority of the Rhine Clan possess strength above the Saint-level, they occasionally need to satisfy their appetites, and the White-Scaled Short-Tailed Fish in the cave are kept as livestock.
As for the Iron-Armored Saw Crocodile, its reproduction rate is relatively slow. Its leather, being a decent material, is used by the Rhine Clan as a source of armor. They directly dispatched ten Lowgod to guard it, and only slaughtered it after it had reproduced to a certain population size. Of course, individuals showing signs of breaking through to Deity-level were killed in advance.
Unless protected by a family, the Saint-level is nothing but livestock.
As for the two unnamed metals in the cave, the blue metal has already begun to be mined; the bright golden sand has also been initially separated out. It is a yellowish-brown metal with a tough texture, good ductility, and excellent conductivity to all Divine Power.
Delisha has already returned ahead of schedule.
"I traveled downstream for about ten thousand miles, leading directly to the Gray Serpent River. Along the way, some Deity-level hid in caves, but no Highgod. There was a small tribe at the confluence of the rivers, but I didn't approach it."
Ten thousand li is a considerable distance even in the Netherworld, but it's enough to separate two settlements.
Jason and the others also shared what they had seen and heard.
Delisha summarized. "It seems this underground river is over 13,000 miles long, and we are currently in the upper reaches of it."
Jason and his group had just traveled more than 3,000 miles upstream when the cave became too small to pass through.
"This underground river doesn't have a name yet, let's all give it one," Rita suggested.
The group discussed the matter telepathically.
Chief Delisha finally made the decision. "Alright, this river is beautifully illuminated by the light of the magic crystal mine, creating a dazzling array of colors. Let's call it the ' Earth Rainbow River.' And this section of the cave we've carved out is right next to a vein of that blue ore, so let's call it the ' Blue Crystal Cave.'"
Actually, the name "Blood Blade" was very popular during their previous discussions, but Delisha said that they would use the name when the family became powerful and built a castle outside.
"This cave is well-hidden and safe. What suggestions do you have for the future development of the family?" Delisha looked at the people around her.
"Still the same old routine, keep a low profile," Rita said.
Delisha looked at Jason.
Jason, contrary to his previous conservative stance, said, "We should send a few people to the nearest Falling Rain City, to take a look. If possible, it would be best to obtain a Fiend title to prepare for establishing connections between the family and the city in the future."
A moment of silence followed.
Finally Delisha made the decision. "The family has just moved here, so it's not advisable to make any major moves. Let's try to go to Falling Rain City again in a hundred years."
Jason nodded, offering no objection.
He suggested going to Falling Rain City because, after his previous battle with that Fiend, he felt he was capable of seeing the cities of the Netherworld.
However, waiting another hundred years would be safer. It would be a good time to use this period to try and break through to the Midgod level with the Lightning Element as well.
More than seventy years later.
In a dry cave within the Rhine Clan's territory, the Laws of Heaven and Earth descended around Jason, and a Mid Godhead lightning attribute materialized before him.